Mobo/CPU Upgrade

[Hansaman]

I just ordered an Abit AV8 3rd Eye mobo and an Athlon64 3200 CPU combination from MonarchComputers. They will put them together, test them and then ship to me. I might get them by the end of the week. Anyway, other than dropping in my existing RAM and connecting the various cables, what else will I have to do in install this in my system? I am replacing an Abit NF7-S (Rev 2) with AthlonXP 2600. These will go into my kids computer. Will I have to reinstal WinXP? Reactivate XP? Will this be painless?

Thanks!

[khilladi]

repair install of xp.. a fresh install would be ideal

[Chazzo]

I would have to lean towards a fresh install of XP, so it could utilize the snacks of the new board WITHOUT conflict of older drivers not being used.

[Hansaman]

I have pretty much resigned myself to doing a new clean install as I have RAID drivers to install and although the new board and the old board are both Abit, I am not sure the RAID controller is the same. I will look into that and it may not matter. But I will probably go with a new install.

Thanks!

[stlouis1]

well, one reason you may want to reinstall is not only the raid drivers, the new board will have the raid controller built in the chipset and maybe have another added on the board, so it will be a different controller. BUT, the power settings and all that are detected only during the initial windows setup, so just moving your current installation over will end up disabling the power saving settings